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The fashion industry is the second biggest polluter in the world. Major brands are exploiting garment workers and harming the environment in the production of shoes and clothing. However, there has been a rise in sustainable fashion brands, making everything from sportswear to underwear who are putting people and the planet before profit.

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As food & drink prices continue to rise across the world, it is often the producers and workers who are losing out to big corporations. We shine a light on the food sovereignty movement pushing for a fairer food system that supports local business and we comment on the rise of veganism.

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Many of the issues from our homes & garden are often hidden from the consumer, from toxic chemicals in our cleaning products to pesticides in our garden. We look at the greenest way to wash, clean and cook and how to recycle your old appliances.

The mainstream banking & insurance industries continue to invest in shady investments such as fossil fuels and nuclear weapons. However, a growing number of ethical alternatives makes it easier than ever to switch to a sustainable bank account or pick an insurance company with an ethical policy.

We look at shops or online platforms that sell a range of products, and how they tend to dominate the market by implementing a profit-first business model and by having a lacklustre approach to ethical practice. We also celebrate ethical companies offering an alternative, from online retailers to sustainable fashion brands.

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The tech sector is plagued by reports of tax avoidance, corporate lobbying and the use of conflict minerals. We look at the brands proving that technology can be made ethically, from Fairphone to Green ISP.

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Are you a lover of the outdoors? Unfortunately the companies that provide your outdoor gear & transport are often harming the environment; from car companies cheating emission tests to outdoor gear companies using toxic chemicals that damage the environment. We provide practical information for consumers on how to keep your ethics while you travel.

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According to the Ethical Consumer lobby group members list, updated in March 2018, Apple was a member of the following lobby groups:

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
The Business Roundtable
The World Economic Forum
The US Council for International Business

These groups were regarded by Ethical Consumer as corporate lobby groups that exerted undue influence on policy-makers in favour of market solutions that were potentially detrimental to the environment and human rights.

As such Apple Inc lost half a mark for each of the lobby groups of which it was a member.

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In August 2018 Ethical Consumer viewed the family tree for Apple Inc on www.hoovers.com and found that the company had high risk subsidiaries in Netherlands, Hong Kong and, Singapore, all jurisdictions which were considered by Ethical Consumer to be tax havens. These companies were considered high risk of being used for tax avoidance purposes because they were all holding companies with subsidiaries in other countries.

In addition Apple had received many criticisms from other sources for its tax avoidance.

The company's Annual Report was checked but contained no country-by-country reporting.

The company received Ethical Consumer's worst rating for likely use of tax avoidance strategies.

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In December 2015 the BBC News website reported that Apple's Italian subsidiary had agreed to pay €318m (£235m; $348m) following an investigation into tax fraud allegations.

Italy's tax authorities said that the company had failed to pay €880m in tax between 2008 and 2013. During that period there was a huge gap between the company's revenues in Italy of over €1bn and the €30m that was paid in tax in the country.

The settlement followed an investigation by prosecutors in Milan and Apple had agreed to pay the amount requested by Italy's tax office.

It had previously denied attempting to escape paying tax owed on profits made around the world.

Apple Italia was part of the company's European operation which was headquartered in Ireland, a country with one of the lowest levels of corporation tax in the EU.

As a result Apple lost a whole mark under Anti-Social Finance.

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In February 2015 the Guardian online reported that Apple had been ordered to pay more than $530m after a federal jury in Texas found its iTunes software infringed three patents owned by a patent licensing company called Smartflash. The jury determined Apple had not only used Smartflash’s patents without permission, but did so wilfully. The patents concerned digital rights management, data storage and payment systems. Apple, which said it would appeal, said the outcome was another reason that reform was needed in the patent system to curb litigation by companies that do not make products themselves.

Smartflash sued Apple in May 2013, alleging its iTunes software infringed its patents related to accessing and storing downloaded songs, videos and games. “Smartflash is very happy with the jury’s verdict, which recognises Apple’s longstanding wilful infringement,” said Brad Caldwell, a lawyer for Smartflash.

The trial was held in Tyler, Texas, which over the past decade had become a focus for patent litigation. Smartflash’s registered office was also located in Tyler. Apple tried to avoid a trial by having the lawsuit thrown out. However, US district judge Rodney Gilstrap, who presided over the case, ruled that Smartflash’s technology was not too basic to deserve the patents. Apple had asked the jury to find Smartflash’s patents invalid because previously patented inventions covered the same technology.